Saying “they still gotta pay me,” Antonio Brown, the wide receiver cut from the New England Patriots amid explosive accusations of rape and sexual misconduct, wants the Patriots to let him back on the team.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, Brown went live on Instagram and directed his fans to tell the Patriots to “call me.”
“Tell them to call me,” Brown said of the Patriots on his Instagram livestream Wednesday. “They still gotta pay me, so might as well let me earn it.”
Brown was cut from the Patriots in September less than two weeks after being signed to it in a deal for a minimum $9 million after also being cut by the Oakland Raiders.
He was booted from the Patriots after Britney Taylor, a former trainer of his, filed a lawsuit in which she accused him of rape. Soon after she filed her suit, a second woman came forward to say that Brown made unwanted sexual advances toward her while she was painting a mural at his home.
The plot thickened further when days after the second woman’s claims became public in a Sports Illustrated article, she said Brown retaliated by sending her threatening text messages.
Brown denied Taylor’s accusations, and, through his lawyer, had no comment on the artist’s. The Patriots let him go.
Now, Brown wants back in. And as Yahoo! Sports reports, Brown is already fighting to get millions of dollars he says is owed him by both the Patriots and the Raiders:
Brown has filed a grievance against New England as well as the Oakland Raiders, seeking to recoup some of the $61 million in guaranteed money that was included in the contracts he signed with the teams.
While that grievance may not be decided for months—though it’s expected he’ll win given the terms of the NFL contracts—analysts with the Boston Globe say Brown may actually have a shot anyway, as an injury-plagued Patriots looks to the Super Bowl.